


Even When I Loved You More Than Anything Else

by mysk



Category: THE iDOLM@STER, THE iDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Near Future, POV First Person, Present Tense, Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-11 14:03:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20547353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysk/pseuds/mysk
Summary: After her retirement, Mayu and her former Producer meet up for dinner together.





	Even When I Loved You More Than Anything Else

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday to my wonderful tantou Mayu Sakuma.
> 
> I originally wanted to make this a short comic, but I can't draw, so it's a short fic instead. No beta-read and written very quickly. Title is based on her cover song. While it is in first person, this is not meant to be a reader or author insert fic.

She's grown so much. It's been a few years since I've been able to catch up with Mayu in person, the production agency still keeping me quite busy to this day, but we finally were able to schedule a day we both had free to grab a nice dinner and chat.

I had been her Producer during her idol career, and despite her immense talent, in the end she had decided to retire and settle down. It wasn't surprising, really - she had always been the domestic type, and I can still remember all of the times she had told me about her plans for our future together, married for an eternity, dedicating her entire self to me.

Never did I indulge her. She was just a kid. I wasn't going to take advantage of that. If anything, a big reason I put so much dedication into producing her career was because I wanted to make sure that no one would see a gullible teenage girl and use her blind devotion as a chance to coerce her into whatever skeevy career choices (let alone private, intimate situations) they felt would benefit them most.

And so, now here she was. Medicated after years of struggling with obsession issues, engaged to a fine individual who I know will treat her right, and living the life she had gushed about to me... But in the right way. In the healthy way. In the happy way.

"Hey, Producer," she quietly states after a sip of her drink, smiling up at me.

I laugh. "Mayu, you're not an idol anymore. You know you don't have to call me that."

She giggles, her laugh still sounding similar to the 'ufufu' I would often hear in the office when she was spending time with her friends. "I know, but... It just feels a bit wrong, doesn't it? You'll always be my Producer, because if not for you, I wouldn't be here, huh..."

Her smile grows softer, and she turns her head to look outside the restaurant's window into the cold, dark night.

"... But that's what I wanted to say, Producer. I wanted to thank you."

"Hm?"

She nervously twists her fingers in her long hair as she answers, still avoiding eye contact.

"My life could have ended up really bad, Producer, had someone else been in your circumstances."

"...Mm." I realize then just how much she had grown up. How much she had looked back on her life, with 'what ifs' plaguing her mind many a late night.

"I know you get what I mean, Producer. I suppose you always knew it yourself, considering, well, how everything turned out..."

She finally turns back to face me. Her smile looks more pure than ever before. Her eyes are filled with a different type of love - the kind of love you have for a close friend, for someone you're greatful for.

"I suppose I can just say it, Producer." She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, and I can tell she's wanted to say the words that follow for years now. Ever since she found her real true love. Ever since she started being treated. Ever since she truly learned what it meant to be an adult.

"Thank you for never taking advantage of my fixation on you, as so many others would have. Thank you for letting me have a childhood. Thank you for letting me grow up, and get better, and find love on my own."

I feel a tear roll down my cheek.

"I'm... I'm happy, Mayu. I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of everything you've done and everything you are now."

"Shh, don't cry." Her gentle hand wipes at my cheek, and I can't help but give an awkward chuckle about how odd this probably was, crying in public with the girl who's career you used to manage who you haven't spoken to in person for years. But she doesn't seem to mind. Her smile is as sweet as ever.

"Mm. That makes me so very happy, Producer."

**Author's Note:**

> I just want Mayu to be happy. And I don't want predatory adults in power to ruin her life the way they've ruined so many others.
> 
> This is my everyday dream that I wish for young girls everywhere.


End file.
